1. Unit 1 Sherenna Vandiver Business Essentials

4.  Basic: Communication is the activity of conveying information.information  Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipientmessage  The receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication  Communication can occur across vast distances in time and space.  The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender.  Feedback is critical to effective communication between parties.  The information can be: Words, gestures, speech, paintings, songs, music.  The means can be: speeches, emails, blogs, forums, text messages, voice messages, poems, essays, books, newspapers, ads, articles, and practically anything you can speak through, write on or draw on.

5.  Verbal  Written  Includes both formal and informal written documents  Formal:  Informal:  Oral  May include presentations, everyday conversations in the workplace  Nonverbal  Hand gestures, body language, proximity, eye contact, etc.

7.  Our faces can show many of our feelings.  For example, a frown or a smile shows a very clear message depending on how and when it is used.

8.  The gestures that people use also convey meanings, for example:  Waving means -saying hello or goodbye  making a fist means you're angry  thumbs upmeansOK  pointing means showing something  It is important to understand that gestures mean different things in different cultures.  Sometimes gestures can be rude in one culture, but okay in another.  In Australia, most people think pointing is a little bit rude and pointing at a person is very rude.

9.  The way that we stand or sit gives information about how we are feeling.  A person sitting slumped in a chair with arms firmly crossed and head turned away can give a negative message.  This may be a barrier to communication.

10.  Maintaining appropriate eye contact when speaking with others helps communication.  Avoiding eye contact may make others think that you do not want to communicate, or that you may be telling a lie.  Staring or excessive eye contact may scare people and make them feel uncomfortable.  Eye contact for several seconds is good. It shows interest without being too scary.

11.  Most people feel uncomfortable when somebody stands or sits either too close or too far away from them.  When this situation happens, people may feel uncomfortable and it can make communication difficult.

12. The bottom of the pyramid would represent the first line of communication a person would probably use. In the first pyramid, how might your parents have communicated? In the bottom pyramid, how do you communicate? The top of the pyramid would be the last resort of communication. (Use email, personal meeting, fax, text messaging, and telephone call.)

13.  Email is used at many levels of business for many different reasons.  It can be used to send a message confirming attendance at a meeting, or email can help send an important agreement to a potential client.  Emails should be used for quick, informational purposes and not for long discussions because of the lack of voice inflection and body language that comes with email communication.  Use a practical subject line that gives a short summary of the message in the email and who the email is from.  You also should indicate whether the message is urgent or not. This will allow the recipient to determine whether or not she wants to read the message immediately or save it for later.

14.  When communicating with someone in person, you have the advantage of being able to read their body language and listening to voice inflections to determine intent.  But you need to remember that they are trying to read the same cues from you.  Delivering a message in person with your arms crossed can give someone the impression that you are being defensive.  Avoiding eye contact can make the recipient feel as though you are not being truthful.  Be aware of your body language and nonverbal cues when you are talking with someone face to face.

15.  Written communication can be broken down into two sub- categories:  Typed communication tends to look more official. If you are sending someone an important contract or invoice in the mail, then a typed cover letter will give the correspondence more of a professional tone.  A handwritten letter tends to give a more personal feel. For example, a handwritten letter of congratulations from a manager to an employee can raise the employee's morale because the handwritten letter can feel like a personal pat on the back from the manager.

16.  Telephone communication remains important even as video conferencing becomes more prevalent.  Cell phones and land lines are used extensively in business, but there are a couple of issues that every professional needs to be aware of when using the telephone for business communication.  The first is that you are unaware of who is listening to your call. Your recipient might think that he is the only person hearing your call, but other people could be listening. Keep business phone calls at a professional level, and do not say anything you do not want anyone else to hear.  The other issue with business telephone calls is while emotion and voice inflection are part of a phone call, body language is not. You will need to pay close attention to the tone of the caller's voice if you want to try and determine their feelings on the topic being discussed.

17. Effective workplace communication is vital to company success. If management cannot communicate their wants with workers, and workers cannot communicate their needs back to management as well as amongst each other, the workforce will not be a cohesive team. To communicate effectively, understanding the steps in this information exchange process is vital.

18.  The first step in communicating a message is creating the message.  This requires that the individual sending the message decide what he wants to say, and selects a medium through which to communicate this information.  If the medium he selects is a written one, he must compose a concise and clear message that others can understand.  If the medium is oral, he must plan out a clear spoken message.

19.  After a message is created, it must be transmitted.  This transmission may be as simple as meeting with the intended recipient of the message and orally sharing the message, or calling the individual to communicate orally over the phone.  If the message is a written one, it could include distributing a paper memo or sending an email.  Often, the number of individuals that the message must reach will influence the transmission, as individuals will be less likely to use face-to-face transmission if they must share the message with a large number of people.

20.  After transmitting the message, the communication duties change hands and fall upon the receiver of the message.  This individual must obtain the message either from the written format the sender selected or by listening as the message is delivered orally.

21.  Once receiving the message, the recipient must translate the message into terms that she can easily understand.  To do this, she must listen or read the message in question and paraphrase it within her head, turning the potentially complex contents of the message into more manageable and meaningful components

22.  Communication is a two-way street and response is often necessary.  Message recipients take the lead in concluding the communication process by crafting a response to the message.  This response may be verbal and immediate, which would commonly be the case if the communication is face-to-face.  It may also be a written response that either expands upon the message or simply indicates receipt of the message in question.

24. Identify the basic elements of the communication process by reading the following situation and considering the questions. A supervisor talking to one of his employees said, "Well, you've made another error. I have repeatedly given you instructions on how to do this job. Can't you get it through your head?" The employee, with a shrug of his shoulders, turned and left the room.  Who is the sender?  Who is the receiver?  What is the message?  What medium was used to convey the message?  What was the feedback?  Was noise present to interfere with the communication process?